


On the Defiance of Death and Loneliness

by Aliriali



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Gen, I think this follows more along with the movies depiction of Minato as well as my own, Persona 3 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliriali/pseuds/Aliriali
Summary: "Of course, I just can't seem to leave you alone. Even when you thought you were.""Even when I wanted to be.""What can I say? I'm stubborn."
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Mochizuki Ryoji, Mochizuki Ryoji/Persona 3 Protagonist, Mochizuki Ryoji/Yuuki Makoto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	On the Defiance of Death and Loneliness

**Author's Note:**

> A brief exploration of what it means to be door-kun while soul bound to the personification of death.

A chill grazed Minato's cheeks, wind ruffled his hair. The distant voices grew further and further as his consciousness began to slip. Like submerging into water, it all became distorted, unintelligible, he only understood it was there. Shadows rippling over the surface above him, wavering, shrinking, leaving. No, they were staying, it was him who was departing. Deeper and deeper until even the semblances of figures and their noises became obsolete. An afterimage in his memory alone before even that ceased coherence...

He felt his head on the legs of another, the last sensation he could recollect, but when he opened his eyes it wasn't Aigis he perceived overhead. Vivid eyes of a deep blue observed his resting face below. The owner of the ocean stare had a somber demeanor, that was until Minato heeded his presence, and a grin broke the gloom. A rising sun over a sea. A familiar face, a recognizable smile, backed by white.

"Ryo...ji?" Minato's voice was hoarse to the same effect of speaking after waking. It took a considerable amount of his strength to utter even just a name. His body was still relentlessly heavy, bricks compiled on his chest and limbs.

At the utterance of the name, the being, "Ryoji", the individual who had been addressed by it felt the title rattle them, widening his eyes in answer to its potent effect. "You still see me as…" When the force of those syllables had subsided, he appeared even more beaming than before.

"Who else... wouldn't let me rest...?"

"Of course, I just can't seem to leave you alone. Even when you thought you were."

"Even when I wanted to be."

"What can I say? I'm stubborn."

Minato's lips pulled upward. What was it about Ryoji that put him at ease when, all things considered, he should be despairing? He enacted his influence over Minato's anguish as he had in the past, attacking and eradicating it. An easier feat than ever before, no longer needing to topple the walls built around his heart that had long since fallen. Minato opened the front door and allowed him in. It was here he'd been all along after all. Not a stranger but a tenant returning home.

"We're linked, you and I." Ryoji spoke softly, staring at the vast white space that had engulfed them. Occasionally, specs of light would float from the ground, glistening before abruptly burning out and disappearing soon thereafter. It was quiet, their voices carried no echo. "I... Death, it festered inside you, and now you reside in it."

"What is that? Something like revenge?"

His blue hues lit up in amusement and laughter. "If you want to think of it that way."

Ryoji plucked one of the headphones from Minato's shoulder and waved it over his face. "How about some music?"

Minato inhaled deeply before attempting to force his way into a seated position. It was less of an ordeal than he imagined, but the vitality to keep himself upward unabated didn't seem probable. He supported his weight onto Ryoji's side, relieving the stress on his neck by finding a purchase on his shoulder. Ryoji slipped one headphone over his ear while Minato did so with the opposite end before pressing the play button on his MP3. A tone with assertive beats and bold vocals filtered into the pair's ears, however, its melody spoke of sorrow. Inexplicably, it felt right. As though the song had been waiting in the depths of his playlist for this moment to be received. Receive it he did, closing his eyes and dissolving into the sound.

The percussion provided the thumps in his chest that his stilled heart no longer did.

In repose, they sat resting their heads on one another. Endorsing the existence of the other, reclining into each other's side. Equally content with matching grins and shut eyes. Death conquered the boy as he had it, consuming each other until they converged as one. To him, death was no stranger, nor acquaintance, but an old, persistent friend, and in its embrace, he felt all the nostalgia and belonging of one he never knew he missed. He and his companion were always ships passing by, concealed by shadow, and after an eternity, their paths had intersected. No more transience, only the collision of their masts and the seafloor where the remaining pieces would rest entangled, forever. Immaculate wreckage.

For the first time in months, the hollow of his being felt filled felt whole. That which had departed from him had returned, at last, never to escape again. He knew that which had returned had no desire to depart.

The fears, the regrets, the doubts, it all was hushed by a whisper from his core: Share your burdens, we'll shoulder them together. In this voice, he felt feelings that were not emanating from his chest alone. Guilt, self-loathing, responsibility, and he extended the separate yet connected consciousness the same favor.

_They'll be fine without you._

_It's not your fault._

_Everyone is grateful._

_You did what you could._

_You kept your promise._

_I forgive you._

_I know._

_I know._

While it didn't absolve each of every misery, the comfort of this union of grievances worked in fortifying themselves against the tender parts of their spirit. Reassurances that would continue ad infinitum.

Minato's face felt the soft, enticing, brush of Ryoji's scarf. With fatigue still possessing him, he inclined himself further into the fabric. The movement caused the wearer's head to displace for room, landing on the top of Minato's. The side of his face became buried in blue tresses.

"Hm..."

"Hm?"

"It's wrong, I was sure death was supposed to be...cold."

Ryoji laughed, a sound that was so affable it mattered not how it stifled the music.

Minato grieved his passing, he grieved his sacrifice, he grieved the things he could no longer reach. There were things to be missed and memories to be grasped. Faces, destinations, futures, not to be seen. Despite the tragedies, the unavoidable, the unpleasantries, there was a fact with which he could grapple with. Something… _someone_ … to contain his lament, to support his obligation. To both quiet and occupy his mind.

He'd never experience loneliness again.

"Ryoji?"

"Ya?"

"What are we?"

"Hm… if I had to guess I'd say….

The end...

...and….  
….the beginning."

Somewhere distant, convening on a school rooftop, a small group of friends wept until they had no more tears left to spend.


End file.
